


if something comes on the way (we face it as one)

by thisfairytalegonebad



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: 100 Ways to Say I Love You Writing Challenge, Canon Universe, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2019-11-23 06:45:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18148475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisfairytalegonebad/pseuds/thisfairytalegonebad
Summary: A hundred different ways to tell your friends you love them.





	1. “Pull over. Let me drive for a while.” - Ignis & Noct, canon verse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings! This story is a collection of short takes on each phrase of the "100 Ways to say I Love You"-list, focusing on the Chocobros and their friendship. It's all platonic, no romance, though of course you are free to view it as romantic. They all just love each other very much.
> 
> Some of them might be AU, but that's going to be stated in the title of each chapter, along with the relationship the chapter focuses on.
> 
> Title is taken from the song Fight Till Dying by my favourite band of all times, Sunrise Avenue.

Ignis brought his hand up to his face again to rub at his eyes for what must’ve been the third time within the past fifteen minutes. Gods, he was so tired, all he wanted was to lie down and get some sleep.

It was no use. They still had another two hours to drive before they could settle in for the night. By now, Ignis deeply regretted his own offer of driving to their destination. At this point, he’d probably even let Prompto drive if it meant he’d get to relinquish the driver’s seat.

He glanced into the rear mirror at Noct and Gladio and then at Prompto next to him. Unsurprisingly, all three of them were fast asleep, weary from the previous night which they had spent hunting nocturnal creatures.

With a quiet sigh, Ignis turned his attention back to the road. He was already struggling to keep his focus on driving as it was, and the lack of conversation did not help improve his state of wakefulness either; he couldn’t afford to get distracted if he wanted to arrive safely.

Briefly, he considered turning the radio on to give himself some background noise at least, but he didn’t want to risk waking the others, so he dismissed the thought. They needed the rest, and he’d just have to make do without the radio.

Only two more hours. That was nothing. He’d gone longer without sleep during his high school days when the workload of school combined with his responsibilities at the citadel _and_ the additional reports he read in order to attend the meetings in Noct’s stead had left no time for sleep. Now, it hadn’t even been 48 hours yet, this should not be a problem.

...except, back at the citadel, he hadn’t spent the days - and the nights - fighting, exhausting himself physically, mentally and emotionally as he did now. He also hadn’t spent most of the hours during which he _did_ get to sleep on the cold, hard ground at a haven, and he hadn’t gotten injured, sometimes critically, nearly every other day.

Alright, so perhaps this was not like the other times he had run on zero sleep. No matter. He’d just need more coffee.

He removed his right hand from the steering wheel and blindly felt for the last can of Ebony he knew was in the cup holder. When he found it, he struggled to open the can with only one hand, and before he could succeed, a hand snatched the coffee from his grip.

Startled, he looked into the rear mirror, only to find Noct blinking at him sleepily. “Noct. Give it back,” Ignis said, having no patience left for such nonsense. It was coffee, or them all inevitably crashing and dying in a fireball. Noct’s choice.

“How much longer?” Noct asked, making no move to return the coffee.

“About two more hours. Give me the coffee.”

“Pull over. Let me drive for a while.”

Ignis twisted in his seat to look at Noct directly. “You need to rest.”

“So do you,” Noct argued. “I slept for a few hours, when’s the last time _you_ slept?”

“You have never slept enough,” Ignis pointed out, neatly dodging the question.

Noct sighed impatiently, making Ignis feel like their roles were reversed for a second. Usually, he was the one exasperated with Noct, not this way around.

“Specs, stop arguing. Let’s switch, I can drive the rest. I’ll make it an order if I have to.”

Ignis glared at the rear mirror, knowing he had already lost. Noct knew he wasn’t going to argue against a direct order from his prince, and Noct knew that Ignis knew too. Besides… the thought of sliding into the backseat with Gladio and _sleep_ sounded heavenly just about now.

“Fine,” he huffed, bringing the car to a stop at the side of the road.

They traded places, Noct with the coffee still in his hand. He gave the can a sceptical look before popping it open and chugging the entire thing.

“Ugh,” he muttered, sticking his tongue out childishly.

Despite his exhaustion, Ignis let out a not very dignified snort. “Thank you, Noct. Do wake me up if you need me to take over again.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now sleep.”

And so Ignis did, leaning back into the seat and after a moment of consideration, slightly against Gladio’s shoulder. Within seconds, he was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked, please do leave a kudos and/or a comment on your way out!
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	2. "It reminded me of you." - Prompto & Noctis, Brotherhood era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soft bois!! That's it, that's the whole thing.
> 
> I wrote this when I was skipping class to go for a lovely train ride instead, hope you enjoy the fruits of my delinquent life.

Noct pulled out two lunchboxes, kept one for himself and set the other one down in front of Prompto. “Here. Specs said he didn’t have much time to make lunch, so he said to invite you for dinner tonight.”

Prompto opened the box, closing his eyes blissfully at the smell that came from the food. “Not much time? This is still better than anything I have ever made. Are you sure he’s human?”

Already shoveling his own, vegetable-free food into his mouth, Noct shrugged. “Probably not. Who knows.”

A lot more slowly than Noct, Prompto started eating too, albeit with some more manners than Noct, the literal _prince_. With his free hand, he pulled his phone from his pocket and typed out a message to Ignis to thank him for both the food and the invitation.

“You don’t have to text him every time to say thanks, you know.”

“Yeah, well. He doesn’t have to make me food either, but he still does. Least I can do is say thanks,” Prompto argued. Ignis insisted it was no trouble at all for he cooked for Noct anyway, but Prompto had still made it a habit to send a little thank-you message every day. He liked to think Ignis appreciated it, too.

“Whatever. I’m not stopping you,” Noct said between two bites. “But he’s probably even grateful because it means he gets to feed vegetables to someone.”

“Vegetables are good for you, Iggy isn’t just trying to torture you with them, y’know.”

Noct let out a groan and pointedly did not reply.

With a grin, Prompto went back to enjoying his food, and they sat in silence for a while. That was, at least until Prompto noticed Noct kept kind of glancing at him out of the corner of his eyes and quickly averted his gaze every time Prompto looked.

“What?” he asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“Nothing,” Noct replied entirely too quickly. A few beats of silence, then, “I, uh. I got you something?”

Prompto lowered his fork, unsure if he’d heard correctly. “You… got me something?”

“Yeah, just… hang on,” Noct muttered, rummaging through his bag with his head a little farther inside the bag than necessary in a failed attempt to hide his blush. “Here.”

He thrust something at Prompto, who accepted it before he properly looked at it.

“Oh!” he gasped in delight when he realized it was a small plush keychain. Not just a keychain, but a _chocobo_ keychain, with soft, fluffy feathers and all.

“Noct, why… You didn’t have to!”

Noct shifted uncomfortably, studying the stray crumbs on the table instead of meeting Prompto’s eye. “Yeah, I know, I just saw it in that store the other day and I got it for you when you weren’t looking. It, uh… it reminded me of you.”

Oh.

Great, now Prompto was blushing too. He was beginning to understand the sudden fascination with the crumbs now.

“That a jab at my hair again?” he tried to cover up his own abashment, hoping his voice didn’t actually sound as high-pitched as he thought it did.

"No! Just... just take it and shut up!"

They were both blushing like crazy at this point. Prompto knew he was probably looking like a lovesick idiot, especially with the soft smile he couldn't quite suppress, but he couldn't bring himself to care much. Especially if Noct, who always made such an effort to appear aloof and listless, went through the awkwardness of giving him a present... that had to mean something, right?

"Thanks, Noct." 

“Glad you like it,” Noct mumbled, still with pink cheeks but a pleased little smile on his lips.

“I _love_ it,” Prompto corrected, fastened the keychain to his backpack and silently vowed to never take it off again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked! 
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	3. "No, no, it's my treat" - Gladio & Ignis, Brotherhood era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gladio getting a drink with his BFF Ignis. Enjoy!

Gladio rounded the corner and ran straight into someone. He was barely swayed, but the other person pretty much bounced off him and would’ve crashed to the ground if not for his quick reflexes that allowed him to grab them by their arms and steady them before they fell.

“Someone appears to be in a hurry.”

Ignis, Gladio realized. Whoops.

“Sorry, Iggy. Didn’t see you there. You good?”

“Just dandy. I was looking for you, in fact.”

“Yeah?” Gladio grinned. “Miss me?”

Ignis breathed out through his nose in a sort-of concealed laugh. “Yes, actually. It has occurred to me that it’s been quite a while since we’ve last had the chance to catch up, so I was wondering if you were free this evening.”

“Well, it’s not me who’s always busy,” Gladio pointed out good-naturedly.

Ignis sighed and shifted the folders in his arms in order to bring up his hand and fuss with his glasses. “I know. My apologies.”

“No sweat,” Gladio waved him off. “Tonight sounds good. Lookin’ forward to it!”

Ignis smiled. “As am I. Well then, I’ll be on my way. Have a good day.”

“Yeah, you too,” Gladio said, lifting his hand as a goodbye before he, too, continued his way to the training grounds where he was headed, picking up his pace when he realized he was almost late for training with his dad. Crap. He absolutely did not want to spend his evening running laps again like last time he’d been too late.

A bit winded, he burst out of the changing room once he’d finished putting his training clothes on, glancing at the large clock as he came to a halt in front of his dad and sighed in relief when the hour changed just about two seconds after his arrival.

Clarus glared at him, obviously wanting to say something but unable to since Gladio was not _technically_ late. Instead, he lifted his sword and attacked, and Gladio spent the rest of their training trying very hard not to get himself sliced open.

Once they were done - Gladio even received rare words of praise from his father which made him glow with pride for the rest of the day - Gladio was ready to drop, but there was still the meeting with Ignis. It was only late afternoon, but after training with his dad, the plan was usually to go home, lie down on his bed and never move again. He was more than willing to sacrifice that for a meeting with his friend, of course, but that didn’t mean that moving didn’t fucking hurt.

Ignis had shot him a text while he’d been training and they’d agreed to meet at eight for a drink, so he left after dinner, cursing the fact that he hadn’t bothered to get his licence yet. Driving would’ve been a whole lot less annoying than walking, with the ache that was already persistent in his muscles, but it couldn’t be helped now. At least the place wasn’t _far_ , but maybe he could still annoy Ignis into giving him a ride home later.

Ignis was already there when Gladio arrived, because of course he was. He was sitting at their usual table, not having ordered anything yet. When he spotted Gladio, he lifted his hand in a little wave.

“Hey,” Gladio smiled as he heavily plopped down on the chair. “Long time no seen.”

“Ah yes. What a couple of dreadful hours it has been without you,” Ignis deadpanned, but his mouth twitched with amusement.

Gladio grinned and flagged down a server, and after they’d both ordered their drinks, he leaned forward in his seat a little. “So, how’s life been treating you?”

“I’ve been busy, as always, but Noct has been making an effort to make my life a bit easier lately. He’s been doing well in school, and he attempts to read the reports from the Citadel, too, if you can believe it.”

“No way. Did someone kidnap and replace him without us noticing?”

“You should give him more credit,” Ignis chided. “He still struggles with his reports and usually has me explain them to him afterward. It is not less work, but rather than me doing the work for him, I now do it _with_ him. It is… nice.”

“I’d bet,” Gladio agreed. He’d been noticing an improvement in Noct’s training, too. If anything, the kid seemed less eager to piss him off the second he stepped foot onto the training grounds. He still complained, but Gladio couldn’t actually remember the last time their training had ended in a shouting match. Huh. “You think that’s that Prompto kid’s doing?”

Ignis nodded. “Certainly. Prompto is good for him. I am very glad about it.”

Gladio took a sip of his drink and hummed. “Yeah, me too. Hey, I don’t think I told you yet, but I finally beat Dad for the first time last week.”

“Oh? That’s fantastic! What did he say?” Ignis asked, sounding both pleasantly surprised and kind of proud.

For the next ten minutes, Gladio launched into the events of last week’s training and how his dad had been pushing him extra hard ever since- a wounded pride, Gladio joked.

Ignis asked questions about the techniques Gladio had used, and Gladio answered them, and then the conversation shifted to a different topic. For the next two hours, they chatted comfortably, ordering some more drinks a few times until Ignis called it quits.

“I still have to drive,” he explained when Gladio teased him about it despite knowing very well that Ignis could absolutely hold his own in a drinking match against him.

“Yeah, about that. You think you could drop me off at home? I feel like everything hurts, even things that shouldn’t be able to hurt.”

“Of course. Shall we head home, then?” Ignis suggested.

Gladio nodded. As much fun as the evening had been, he was dead tired. And he had to train some new recruits tomorrow, something that could either be a lot of fun or an absolute pain in the ass depending on how well they ended up doing.

He reached for his jacket to pull out his wallet, but Ignis grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“No, no, it’s my treat. I was the one who invited you, after all,” he said, placing his own wallet on the table as he got their server’s attention.

“Cool, thanks, Iggy,” Gladio said and pulled his arm back. “I’ll be paying next time, then.”

He watched as Ignis paid, then he followed him out to the car. He had to squeeze himself into the passenger seat, groaning when he realized Noct had been the last one to occupy the seat and everything was set for a much smaller person. Damn that prince and his scrawny ass.

“Are you all settled?” Ignis asked mildly after having watched Gladio’s struggle with the seat in amusement.

“Yep,” Gladio confirmed.

The ride home was silent save for the radio, but Gladio didn’t mind. It was a comfortable silence, after all, always was with Ignis.

“Thanks for the ride,” he said once Ignis dropped him off in front of the Amicitia residence. “Good night.”

“Good night to you too.”

Gladio waved to him through the window, and Ignis waved back before he pulled out of the driveway and disappeared into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked!
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	4. "Come here. Let me fix it." - Noctis & Ignis, canon verse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, to get myself back into writing, have a chapter for this project. Today's menu is some Noct whump because why not. Yeah basically Aramusha fucked me up good during my playthrough so I thought, why not write it.

The Balouve Mines were a complete pain in the ass, and Noct was more than done.

The goblins weren’t hard to defeat, but they were really, _really_ annoying. Surprisingly clever, too, locking doors right in their faces and tearing through the mine in their carts. At this point, Noct was using attacks way stronger than necessary to defeat these little bastards, he hated them and he wanted them in _pain_.

The downside of the goblins being easy to defeat was that they generated a false sense of security. Sure, they were a nuisance, but not much more than that. There weren’t any other daemons either which was unusual, normally these places would be crawling with creatures sometimes not even Specs had heard of before. Unusual, maybe, but Noct wasn’t complaining. His ancestors had made it a habit to have their tombs located in the most inaccessible places they could possibly find, maybe the royal arm that was supposedly hidden in these mines was easy to retrieve for a change.

Oh, he couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Right at the bottom of this damn mine, there was another of these samurai daemons, fuck knew what it was called. Maybe Specs knew, but Noct couldn’t ask him. Partly because he was too busy warping out of the way every time that thing attacked, but mainly because Specs, along with Gladio and Prompto, had been knocked right out with some ridiculously strong strike from the samurai daemon.

Basically, Noct was on his own now. He couldn’t stay still for long enough to heal his friends without getting hit himself, and if he got hit too, it was over for all of them. He had no choice but to battle this daemon all by himself.

Just great.

Lamenting the fact that Ignis was down and therefore couldn’t come up with a strategy to fight the daemon, Noct resorted to his favourite but unfortunately riskiest technique of warp-striking at an enemy as many times as he could handle it.

The managed to do some damage to it before he had to take a moment to catch his breath and use an elixir to heal his minor wounds and give himself an energy burst to keep warping. He didn’t have too many left, though, and even though his warp-strikes did some damage, he’d probably run out of elixirs and ethers before the daemon was dead.

“Shit,” he muttered to himself, quickly searching the Armiger for something to use. There were a few flasks of elemental magic left. He didn’t know for sure what this particular daemon was weak to, but all the other samurai daemons they had battled in the past had reacted especially negative to lightning. It was worth a shot if nothing else.

He summoned a flask and flung it at the daemon as hard as he could and released a breath of relief when the daemon momentarily went down, spasming with the effects of lightning magic. It was starting to look a little worse for wear in general if Noct wasn’t mistaken. He really hoped he wasn’t.

Too fast, way more quickly than expected, the daemon was back on its feet and then, faster than Noct could blink, it rushed forward and stabbed him.

Right through the chest.

As if that wasn’t enough, it was lifting him up. On the sword that was currently sticking through his chest.

Noct _screamed_. The pain blinded him, his lungs suddenly felt as if they couldn’t fit any oxygen in them, and he thought he was going to die right then and there.

He didn’t die, regretfully. It would’ve been better than the pain that followed as it drew the sword back and threw him onto the floor.

As he hit the ground, he screamed a second time, much weaker than the first time but just as anguished. It felt as if the pain was going to drive him insane, but he gathered himself long enough to pull a phoenix down from the Armiger.

A faint sigh of relief escaped him as the magic washed over him and reduced the blinding, all-consuming pain to a more tolerable level. It still hurt like hell, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of literally being skewered alive. That combined with the energy the phoenix down gave him enough strength to reach for another flask and throw it at the daemon.

Whilst it was incapacitated, Noct gathered all his remaining energy and aimed another warp-strike at the thing. It was all or nothing, honestly. Noct knew he wouldn’t be able to keep fighting after that, but the daemon was looking kind of wobbly and slowed down. If he was lucky, that last strike would be enough to take it down for good.

His sword connected, he warped, and they both came crashing down onto the ground. The impact made his chest scream with pain and he was left gasping desperately.

Next to him, the daemon let out a horrible screech before it disintegrated into nothing.

_Thank the gods_ , Noct thought, because he didn’t have the energy to say it out loud. Black spots were eating at his vision, but he couldn’t pass out just yet.

Thankfully, Gladio was lying only a few steps away from him. Noct half-crawled towards him, completely undignified, but he really couldn’t be bothered to give a shit right now. It took him a few seconds to summon a curative, and once he held it in his hand barely able not to drop it, he gave it to Gladio who regained consciousness with a gasp.

“What- Noct, fuck, what happened to you!?”

“It’s fine. I defeated it, not dying anymore. You gotta check on the others, I’m… ‘m gonna pass out now, ‘kay?” Towards the end, he was starting to slur his words, but he managed to say what he wanted to say before his eyes closed and he was giving in to the exhaustion. Only through a thick fog, he heard Gladio cuss at him, but he really couldn’t bring himself to care.

* * *

Being stabbed through the chest, besides horrible pain, a general feeling of disorientation from the blood loss, near heart attacks for your friends once they found out what happened and a near death experience for yourself, unfortunately came with torn clothes.

Noct held out his shirt in front of him, mournfully studying the gaping hole. Damnit. His chest was all fixed up thanks to the phoenix down and whatever else his worried friends had forced upon him post-battle when he’d been unconscious, but sadly, the magic didn’t extend to clothes.

“Ugh,” he said. He’d _liked_ this shirt! Yes, it was just a regular black shirt, but it had fit just right and the fabric had been nice and soft. Somehow, the torn shirt pissed him off even worse than the fact that he’d nearly died.

To his right, the door opened. In came Ignis, carrying two large bags full of groceries. They were staying at Galdin Quay until Noct was well enough to travel again and Ignis was taking full advantage of it by exchanging all sorts of recipes with the local chef and the well equipped kitchen in the hotel room allowed him to try a few of them. Noct was glad he did that, at least that way he wasn’t constantly on his case about, well, having almost died.

“I see you’re up and about, Highness,” Ignis said as he set the bags down and came closer to give Noct a scrutinizing look. “How do you feel?”

“Fine,” Noct said. It wasn’t really a lie. He only felt a little worn out after three days of resting, but he figured he could just let Specs drive (as if Specs let him behind the wheel right now anyway, ha) and squeeze in another nap until they reached their next destination. “We can leave today.”

For a moment, Ignis didn’t look like he believed him, searching his face for any trace of a lie. When he apparently found none, his gaze fell on Noct’s ruined shirt and his eyes softened.

“Come here. Let me fix it.” He held out a hand and took the shirt when Noct passed it to him and gave it a once-over. “Hmm. This’ll need some work, but I believe I can sew it right up, you won’t even notice a difference.”

Noct smiled, small but genuine. “Thanks, Iggy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked! I've never actually written Noct whump (or whump for any character who wasn't my #1 chara which, in FFXV, would be Iggy), so yeah, this is the result.
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	5. "I'll walk you home." Prompto & Gladio, brotherhood era

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend recently got into FFXV and started shipping Prompto and Gladio (among other ships) so while this collection is still very much intended to be platonic, it did remind me that these two boys didn't have a chapter together yet so here we go.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Gladio is almost disappointed when Prompto, after a glance at the large clock at the wall, nearly drops his gun in shock and explains that he should’ve gone home ages ago.

Since Prompto’s going to take the Crownsguard exam this year, Gladio has been tasked with his training. At first, it was kind of weird. Prompto was awkward, clearly terrified of Gladio, a bit clumsy when it came to weapons, and completely untrained.

That last part especially wasn’t his fault, but usually, people had at least some basic training when they were paired with Gladio. Even Noct was introduced to some form of training at a very young age, usually coupled with physical therapy after his accident.

But Prompto came to him with absolutely zero understanding of weapons or combat, and so their first couple of lessons were purely theoretical. Teaching the theory to him wasn't difficult. In fact, he was an amazingly quick learner, and it was refreshing to educate someone who would actually listen for a change.

Still, even though the theory was crystal clear, Prompto was obviously not comfortable with the classic weapons. They tried swords and daggers and even a broadsword once, though Prompto had nearly chopped off his own foot when it turned out to be way too heavy for him to lift. So, yeah, weapons didn’t work out too well.

Until Gladio let him shoot.

He didn’t think much of it at a time, just remembered the guns in the back of the armory and thought, well, why not give it a try. The Glaives he usually trains with all look at guns with scorn and call them ‘a coward’s weapon’, a sentiment Gladio personally doesn’t agree with. It takes some serious skill to fire a gun accurately in battle, and if it could save the King’s or Noct’s life one day, it doesn’t matter if someone wields a sword or a gun.

Either way, Gladio decided to let Prompto try himself with a gun. And watched as the kid fired at the targets, completely oblivious to Gladio’s delighted grin that grew wider with every shot. It wasn’t perfect, Gladio didn’t expect it to be. But considering it was the first time Prompto pulled a trigger, it sure was really fucking good.

After that, Gladio would usually him go through some basic training first since he’d still have to prove himself in direct combat, as well as some self-defense because that kid was just so damn scrawny and it only felt right to give him the means to protect himself if needed. And afterwards, he’d let Prompto have fun with the targets and occasionally chime in with some tips.

Now that he's found his weapon, Prompto has grow more confident during training, will crack a joke every now and then, and is just a walking ray of fucking sunshine in general. Gladio looks forward to training with him every week because it's just impossible to be in a bad mood with Prompto in the room.

Today, Prompto immersed himself completely, focus complete with the tip of his tongue poking out and all, and neither he nor Gladio noticed the time until now.

“Your parents gonna get mad? I can write them a note, say I held you up,” Gladio offers.

“No, uh,” Prompto says, cheeks red as he scrambles to put the gun away properly and gather his stuff. “I’m just, I think I gotta get that next bus or there won’t be any until tomorrow morning.”

Gladio frowns and looks at the clock. He has no idea what the bus schedule is like, perks of being nobility, but considering the time Prompto usually leaves… “When’s that bus leaving, exactly?”

Prompto looks up barely long enough to glance at the clock, too busy shoving his street clothes into his bag. “In, oh shit, in like, exactly two minutes.”

Two minutes to pack up and get to the bus station on the other side of the citadel. Yeah, sure. Gladio rolls his eyes and goes to tower over Prompto with his arms crossed. “Look, you’re not gonna catch that bus. And it’s cold out, if you go home in your gym clothes, you’ll get sick.”

Prompto throws another pleading look to the clock as if that would somewhat make it run more slowly, but then he slumps and sits back on his heels in defeat. “I… ah, shit, you’re right. Guess I gotta walk home, then.”

“Can’t your parents pick you up or something?”

Something flashes in Prompto’s eyes and almost makes Gladio wish he didn’t ask. It’s gone very quickly, though, and when he answers it’s in his usual cheerful voice.

“They’re on a business trip, they won’t be home for a while. It’s fine, though. I’ll just walk and call it extra exercise.”

“You don’t need extra exercise after more than three hours of training,” Gladio points out.

He mentally goes through the list of people with a car and a license, someone who could pick Prompto up and deliver him to his home safe and sound. It’s not a surprise who the first person who comes to his mind is.

“I can call Iggy, I’m sure he’ll drive you home,” he says. He knows Iggy will drive Prompto home, recently he’s started mothering him almost as bad as he does with Noct.

Prompto shakes his head, determined. “No! Noct said it’s his day off today! I can’t disturb him on his day off!”

Gladio thinks Ignis would drive Prompto anywhere even if he were on his honeymoon or whatever, but fine, he’s not about to make Prompto feel guilty by calling him if he doesn't want to. Also, he kinda has a point, Iggy deserves to chill on his rare off days.

Jared would be an option, but it’s pretty late so he’s technically off duty now. Would be kind of a dick move to drag him out of the house and make him play driver at this hour.

He’s already familiar with Prompto’ stance against taking any kind of financial aid from his friends, so he doesn’t even try to offer to call and pay for a cab, either.

“Well, guess we have no choice. I’ll walk you home,” he decides. “Don’t want your scrawny ass kidnapped or anything. But first, you gotta throw on some warmer clothes because I won't put up with you if you get sick.”

“You don’t have to walk me home!” Prompto protests. He looks very flustered and Gladio thinks it’s hilarious.

“Well, tough titties, I’m doing it anyway. Clothes, c’mon.”

Gladio marches towards the changing rooms and pretends he doesn’t notice the look of gratitude and relief Prompto gives him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, would you look at that, a chapter without Iggy. That's rare. I couldn't go the entire chapter without mentioning though, I'm sure you understand.
> 
> Hope you liked!
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or your fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	6. "Have a good day at work/school." - Noctis, Prompto & Ignis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOMEONE called me out for apparently being unable to not include Iggy for more than 800 words. I want to argue, but then I look at this chapter which is, once again, Iggy. And then I look at my concepts for the next few chapters, and there is also a lot of Iggy. So I just accept that judgement and give you some Iggy with his boys, enjoy!

Ignis glanced at his watch again and sighed impatiently. “Noct, please do get up. You’ll be late for school.”

From below the blankets that covered a vaguely prince-shaped lump came a groan of great misery.

At such dramatic antics, Ignis could only roll his eyes, but he did smile in amusement when Noct finally rolled off the mattress with the most impressive bed-head Ignis had seen in a while.

The prince dragged himself towards the bathroom with excruciating slowness, but at the window, he stopped to look outside with a frown.

“Something the matter, Highness?”

“Can we pick Prompto up today?” Noct asked, now slightly more awake and his brain apparently in working order. “It’s raining and his first bus is often late so he misses his second bus and has to walk all the way to school and he’s gonna be soaking wet by the time he gets there.”

Ignis blinked before a knowing smile pulled at his lips. “Of course. You’ll just have to let me know where he lives.”

Not that Ignis didn’t technically know Prompto’s address. It had been part of the background check they’d done as soon as he had entered Noct’s life, of course. But Ignis had a feeling Noct wouldn’t appreciate his extensive knowledge about his friend, so it was probably for the best to feign ignorance.

Noct paused. “Uh…”

“You don’t know where he lives?”

“I’ve never been to his place!” Noct was quick to defend himself, even though it hadn’t been an accusation at all.

“Would you mind asking him, then? And perhaps inform him that we’ll pick him up, too? We wouldn’t want to miss him,” Ignis said as he collected a few stray textbooks from the table in the living room. He attempted to pack them into Noct’s bag, only to frown in distaste as he found yesterday’s empty lunch box in the bag. “Noct, how many times have I asked you to unpack your lunch box and give it to me so I can clean it _before_ it starts walking around?”

Noct grumbled something and didn’t even bother looking up from his phone. He was most likely acting on Ignis’ suggestion to text Prompto, though, so Ignis let it go.

Finally, Noct tossed the phone onto the couch and disappeared into the bathroom. It didn’t take him long to reemerge, put on some semi-clean clothes and look at Ignis like he was about to be led to his own execution. “Okay, I’m good to go.”

“Did Prompto give you his address?” Ignis asked. He herded Noct out of the door and towards the car once he’d made sure the door was locked properly. It was raining heavily now, Prompto would indeed be soaked if he had to walk to school today.

Noct shook his head. “Said he doesn’t want you to have to drive all the way to his house. I told him it’s no problem, but he wants to take his first bus and meet us at the bus station.”

He didn’t sound very pleased with Prompto’s decision, Ignis noted with fondness. Despite his aloof attitude, Noct cared a lot, and the thought of Prompto potentially ending up wet and cold was obviously bothering him.

“Well then, let’s not keep him waiting.”

Traffic was rather slow, as usual at this time of the day. But since Ignis always bullied Noct out of bed ahead of time, they still made it to the bus station before Prompto’s bus arrived.

Prompto’s eyes lit up when he stepped out of the bus and saw Ignis’ car. He hurried over, hoodless jacket pulled over his head and careful not to step in the puddles.

“Hey!” he said cheerfully when he plopped down in the backseat next to Noct. “Thanks for picking me up. You didn’t have to, but still, thanks!”

“Not at all,” Ignis said mildly. Soon, Prompto’s excited chatter and Noct’s tired replies filled the car and Ignis tuned them out to focus on the road.

They reached the school about twenty minutes before class started, a fact Noctis regularly complained about. Those were twenty more minutes he could spend sleeping, he’d whine, but Ignis wasn’t about to show any mercy. Not if it meant Noct got to school in time, anyway.

Thankfully, the rain had died down a bit so the boys wouldn’t get too wet on the way to the school building. Still, Ignis advised them to take the large umbrella that was stored in the car and that was big enough to fit both Noct and Prompto under it, in case the weather got worse throughout the day.

“Have a good day at school,” he said once they had collected their belongings and were ready to go.

“Thanks. Bye, Specs.”

“Thanks, Iggy! Uh, you too! Have a good day at work, I mean.”

Ignis smiled. “I’ll try. Now, get inside before you get wet after all.”

He watched them hurry inside, huddled beneath that big umbrella, before he pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the Citadel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, Noct in the morning is such a mood. Mornings make me want to shrivel up and die. I 100% empathize with him. And I'd absolutely flip my shit if anyone were to get me up 20 minutes earlier than required. Though if it were Iggy waking me up, it might be acceptable. Maybe. 
> 
> Hope you liked! 
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or your fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	7. "I dreamt about you last night." - Ignis & Noctis, world of ruin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's up lads, inspiration struck so I present to you, some goddamn heartbreak. Enjoy your meal.

Noct barely has time to climb out of Talcott’s truck, still unsteady and with shaky muscles, before Prompto is in front of him and throws his arms around him. He squeezes him so hard it almost hurts, but Noct doesn’t mind. He hugs back just as fiercely and for a moment, they just cling to each other.

“You’re back. I can’t believe you’re back,” Prompto whispers in Noct’s ear. He sounds like he’s trying to convince himself Noct is real, but there’s something else in his voice that makes Noct wonder if he knows.

The very second he parts from Prompto, a heavy hand lands on his shoulder and he’s facing Gladio.

“Look at you! All grown up!” He squeezes Noct’s shoulder and yanks him against his broad chest that somehow seems to have gotten even broader over the past ten years, what the fuck.

“Good to have you back,” Gladio rumbles and leaves his arms around Noct for a tad longer than he would have ten years ago.

Noct really can’t say he minds.

Last, there’s Ignis. In between hugging Prompto and Gladio, Noct couldn’t get a good look at him yet. But now he takes a moment to study his appearance and can’t quite keep his eyes from lingering on Ignis’ scars.

They’re faded, nothing like the freshly healed wounds all these years ago, but it’s obvious they’ll always be visible. Briefly, Noct wonders how long it took for them to properly heal, for the pain to pass. He wonders for how long Ignis had to suffer.

He swallows the lump in his throat and steps forward. “Specs. It’s good to see you.”

Ignis reaches out, fingers brushing against Noct’s cheek. His eyes aren’t visible behind the visor he wears now, and Noct knows they’d be empty, unseeing, but he remembers the fond look Ignis used to give him so perfectly as if he were receiving it right now.

“I dreamt about you last night. I saw you return, I saw-” Ignis says, barely louder than a whisper and his voice breaks. “You look so much like your father.”

Noct blinks in surprise. He hasn’t exactly had access to a mirror yet, but if Ignis says he looks like his dad, then it must be true. The thought of his father makes his chest ache, but he knows he can’t dwell on these emotions right now.

“You put on the ring, didn’t you. Back in Altissia. It’s how you lost your eyesight,” he says. It’s not a question. He’s just asking Ignis to confirm what he already knows.

“I did.”

Gladio and Prompto don’t look surprised at the confession. Maybe Ignis told them at some point, or maybe they figured it out on their own. It doesn’t really matter, anyway.

“You believe it could be magic left over from the ring?” Ignis asks.

“Yeah. It’d make sense, right? The ring is powerful enough, that must be it.”

But in the end, it isn’t really important how Ignis knew. What’s important is the task that lies ahead. Noct dreads it, but even more, he dreads having to tell his friends about his fate. How do you tell those who love you, the people you love more than life itself, that you are to die for the sake of mankind?

There isn’t an answer to that, not really. And… Noct wants to pretend, just a little longer. He knows he has to tell them, just not yet.

Despite having spent ten years doing absolutely nothing, Noct is exhausted, and so they decide to stay in the caravan at Hammerhead for a few hours before leaving for Insomnia to let him sleep.

But even though Noct feels bone-weary, sleep doesn’t come. Gladio and Prompto are actually asleep before him, which almost makes him laugh. But judging from the way he’s breathing, Iggy isn’t asleep yet, either.

A few minutes later, when Noct is almost ready to give up on sleep altogether, he hears the rustling of Ignis’ sheets as he gets up and quietly leaves the caravan.

Noct doesn’t think before he slips out of bed as well and steps outside to look for Ignis.

He finds him only a few steps away, sitting at the table in front of the caravan, and for a moment it almost feels like they’re back on their journey ten years ago. Almost, but Noct can’t shake the awful knowledge of what is to come.

“Hey,” he says and joins Ignis at the table. “Can’t sleep?”

“So it would appear,” Ignis sighs. “Today has been eventful.”

“Tell me about it. Nothing like crawling out of a crystal after ten years, right?” Noct snorts at his own joke. It sounds pretty surreal, after all.

Ignis smiles. “I can only imagine.”

“Talcott said you’re fighting again?”

“I am.” Ignis’ tone is nonchalant, but Noct doesn’t miss the pride that lies beneath it. “I daresay I fight better in the dark than most.”

Noct laughs. “That’s so cool. Do you remember that superhero guy from these comics Prompto and I used to read? You’re basically him now.”

Ignis arches an eyebrow in that way that means he’s judging Noct hard and says, completely dry, “Why, thank you. Being cool was my only goal.”

They’re both grinning now and probably looking pretty stupid, but Noct doesn’t care. He wants to cling to this sense of normalcy and familiarity for as long as he can.

But then, of course, Ignis speaks again, and the lightheartedness is entirely gone from his voice.

“Noct, I…,” he says, falters, then tries again. “I _know_. About… the prophecy. About your fate. And I can’t-”

Noct’s heart breaks along with Ignis’ voice. He hates that Iggy knows, he wants to know for how long he’s known but he doesn’t want to hear the answer. He doesn’t want to hear it, because he knows it already. He doesn’t want to hear for how long Ignis has been living with the knowledge of Noct’s fate.

He still forces himself to ask. “How?”

“Pryna,” Ignis replies. “Back in Altissia, Ravus and I reached the Altar right before she died. She delivered a vision to me. I- I saw you die.”

Since Altissia. Ignis has known since Altissia, he’s been living with this knowledge all this time. Now, Noct also understands why Ignis approached him, back then when they were still recovering in the Leville, and he asked him if he really wanted to carry on with this journey.

Noct makes a choked noise. He wonders if Iggy’s been carrying this burden all by himself, or if he’s told the others at some point, but he doesn’t ask.

“Your dream last night, did you…”

“Yes,” Ignis confirms, sounding hollow and so unlike the Ignis he knows. “I saw you die once again.”

And there’s really nothing Noct can say that would express everything he’s feeling. Fear, guilt, resentment. He’s feeling a lot, and he doesn’t have the right words, and so he says, “I’m sorry.”

Ignis shakes his head. “No, I’m sorry. We’re sorry. We vowed to stand by you, yet in the end, we fail.”

Noct is aware of the tears that gather in his eyes, but he pays them no mind. “It’s not failing! You vowed to stand by me, you can still make good on that promise. Stand by me until the very end. Please.”

Ignis is crying too. Tears are streaming down his face, but his voice is steady as always when he speaks again. “Of course, Noct. We will remain right by your side, no matter what.”

Smiling through the tears, Noct asks, “You got my back?”

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fixed the reunion, there are now hugs. Also, the comic refers to Daredevil. Iggy is Daredevil, sorry I don't make the rules.
> 
> I made myself so very sad writing this. The nature of this collection makes it very tempting to just focus on the bright, fluffy parts of the game, but since we all obviously love pain if we love this game, here we are. Will I ever get over this bullshit? Probably not. But that's a good thing because it means I can just be here writing FFXV fics for eternity.
> 
> Let's see if we can manage something without Iggy in the next chapter. Because my bias is clearly showing I think. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or your fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	8. "Take my seat." Prompto & Noctis, road trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *kicks down door* whaddup lads, here's some boiz. The inevitable sickfic, and since this is a collection written by yours truly, probably not the last sickfic to come. For now, enjoy Prompto and Gladio being miserable!

In theory, Noct knew that Prompto had a pollen allergy. It wasn’t as severe as Gladio’s, who kept sneezing during pollen season even with his meds, so Noct had really only witnessed it once. Prompto had showed up in school with red, teary eyes, a raspy voice, and wearing a pair of glasses instead of contacts like usual. As it turned out, he hadn’t realized he’d run out of his medication and couldn’t buy any before school started.

Noct had felt pretty bad for him back then. Apparently, so had the teacher. Prompto made it through exactly one and a half lessons that day before he was sent home. But aside from that one time, Prompto was usually fine with his meds. It’d been long enough for Noct to pretty much forget about the allergy.

That was why it kinda came as a shock when they ran out of antihistamines and both Gladio and Prompto had to deal with the consequences.

There was an issue with the delivery, the cashier at the gas station informed them. He was very apologetic about it, but that didn’t change the fact that they couldn’t get any meds, not even at any other store since they were all affected by the missing delivery. Not unless they located the delivery truck that was apparently lost somewhere along the way, as it seemed to happen pretty often these days.

Grimacing in sympathy at the thought of his friends who were currently waiting in the car, Noct told the guy they’d handle it, waited for Ignis to pay for his three packs of Ebony, and trudged back to the car to inform the other two about the problem.

“Ugh,” Prompto said, voice stuffy and rough.

Gladio just sneezed in agreement.

Overall, they both looked pretty miserable, Gladio more so than Prompto. Noct liked to tease him about it, how he could take a sword through the chest no problem but some tiny little pollen were enough to render him useless. Looking at him now, he didn’t have the heart to. His Shield was slumped in the backseat, eyes closed in an attempt to ease the burning and itching a bit, but it probably didn’t help much. He’d given up on talking hours ago, it’d just make his already raw throat hurt worse. It was a pretty heart-wrenching sight, really.

Prompto was doing a little better. His allergy wasn’t as severe, but he was visibly suffering too. He was still talking, not as much as normally but still in his usual cheerful tone. He wasn’t really fooling anyone. He didn’t look like he could fool anyone, either. His fair complexion let the redness around his eyes and nose seem more severe than Gladio’s tanned skin. Not even the glasses he was wearing did anything to hide it. Every now and then, he’d sneeze and sniffle and then carry on with the conversation as if nothing was wrong.

Noct opened the door to the backseat and moved to get it, but then he hesitated. “Hey, Prompto. Take my seat. More room in the back. You can lie down or something,” he said, casually.

Prompto looked like he wanted to protest, but then he smiled weakly but with gratitude. “You know what? That sounds great, actually.”

Slowly, he peeled himself out of the passenger seat and shuffled around the car. “The Prince of Lucis holds the door open for me. I’m honored!” he joked. The effect was kind of lost when he sneezed immediately after, though.

Noct rolled his eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah, just get in and shut up.”

Prompto tried to wink at him, which didn’t work all that well with his teary eyes, and climbed into the backseat next to Gladio. He didn’t even bother sitting up properly. Instead, he dropped his head into Gladio’s lap and sighed in relief.

“This okay, big guy?” he rasped, looking like he was very unlikely to move even if Gladio told him to get off.

Of course, Gladio did not tell him to get off. He just hummed in agreement and dropped his big hand onto Prompto’s stomach.

Noct threw them another glance before he walked over to the passenger seat. It didn’t look like they were gonna move or speak or look vaguely alive anytime soon, so it was probably best to just leave them alone.

“Seems like it’s up to us now, huh, Specs?” he said

“Indeed,” Ignis replied and took a sip from his coffee. “I do hope whatever foes await us aren’t too strong for us to fight by ourselves.”

Noct shrugged. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Gonna show these two we can handle things without them.”

The cashier hadn’t been able to provide much information about the truck’s whereabouts. The only thing they had to work with was the route it was supposed to take, but there was no way of knowing where exactly it got stuck. That meant they had to drive the whole route and hope they were able to locate the truck somewhere.

For several hours, they drove, without any trace of the truck. Noct was starting to feel _really_ bad for Prompto and Gladio. Aside from the occasional sneezing, they weren’t making any noise, and it was hard to tell if they were asleep or not. For their sake, Noct kind of hoped they were.

After a while, it started to rain. Whilst Noct normally wasn’t keen on getting wet when running around in the woods, he was now grateful for it. The rain would wash away some of the pollen in the air, hopefully making his friends a little less miserable. Still, that damn truck had better show up soon.

He was just about to voice his frustration to Ignis when dark tracks on the road near the Fallgrove caught his attention. “Specs, you see that?”

“I do. Let’s have a look, shall we?”

“Mm. That better be our truck,” Noct agreed. “Think these two are gonna be fine while we’re gone?”

He glanced at the backseat, but he still couldn’t tell if they were awake. Ah, well. He’d just lock the car, they’d be alright.

The truck had probably been hauled off by daemons, but it was easy to follow the path of broken twigs, flattened grass, and the deep, very obvious tracks the wheels had left.

Noct groaned when he spotted the truck, surrounded by hundlegs. “Can’t anything be easy for once? Specs, how do we do this?”

“Hit and don’t get hit yourself.”

“Very helpful. Let’s do this.”

An annoying but not particularly hard fight, a couple of potions, and a couple more antidotes later, the only things left of the hundlegs were their, well, legs.

Noct gathered them and dismissed them into the Armiger to sell later and walked up to the truck.

“Seems like the cargo is fine.”

“The driver wasn’t so lucky,” Ignis commented.

“Yeah…”

The truck driver’s tragic fate dampened Noct’s mood considerably. He just wanted to get this over with. Gather the supplies, get back to Gladio and Prompto and stuff them with meds until they felt better. Fortunately, Ignis seemed to agree. They emptied the truck quickly and without much talking, and soon they were back by the Regalia.

Noct’s plan had been to give Prompto and Gladio the pills as soon as they returned, but now they were definitely asleep. He stared at them for a moment, considering if he should wake them. No, he thought, it could wait until they were at the motel they’d definitely be staying at tonight.

The sun was already low, so he and Ignis hurried to load everything into the car and head for the nearest motel before the daemons came out. Delivering the supplies to a gas station could wait until tomorrow, Noct decided, selfishly. Like hell he’d make Gladio and Prompto sit in that car any longer than necessary.

If Ignis pushed the speed limit a bit, neither of them said anything about it. As the last sunbeams were starting to disappear, they finally reached the motel, just in time before nightfall.

Noct rounded the car and opened the door on Prompto’s side whilst Ignis did the same on Gladio’s side. “Prompto. C’mon, rise and shine. We’re at the motel, you can go back to sleep in a minute.”

Prompto blinked and muttered something Noct didn’t catch. He didn’t seem entirely awake, so Noct helped him out of the car and half-carried him to the motel. He wondered if that was how the others felt when they tried to wake him up in the morning.

Ignis had gone ahead and paid for their rooms. He’d left Gladio in the car once it’d become clear he wouldn’t be up and walking on his own anytime soon, but now he was hauling him out with some effort. Noct didn’t exactly envy him; he was already struggling to support a nearly limp Prompto.

Eventually, they dragged their pretty much unresponsive friends into the room and deposited them in one of the two double beds.

“Here, take this,” Noct said once he caught his breath, handing Prompto his medication. When Prompto barely managed to hold onto the pill, Noct didn’t even try to give him the glass of water. It was easier to just hold it for him, he thought.

He made Prompto drink the entire glass before he was satisfied and let him burrow into the blankets and pillows and Gladio.

“Gladio all set?” he asked, turning to see if Ignis needed help, but Ignis just brushed his hand through Gladio’s hair and straightened up.

“All set,” he confirmed. “We’d best head off to bed as well.”

Noct all but collapsed onto the other bed, not even bothering to take off his clothes. “Oh yes, definitely. Night, Specs.”

Of course, Ignis bullied him into getting up again and changing out of his clothes after all, but it still wasn’t even five minutes later that he fell asleep as soon as his eyes closed.

He definitely deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompto with glasses, anyone?
> 
> Gladio's pollen allergy seems to be pretty much accepted as canon from the way he randomly sneezes in the game, so I was more than happy to hop onto the bandwagon AND drag Prompto down with him.   
> I am so very glad I don't have a pollen allergy, let me tell you. I wear contacts and when it is Pollen Time™ these tiny little assholes like to land on my contacts and chill there all day. It is very itchy and very unpleasant. To imagine there's people who have to deal with allergies... uhhh yeah, no. Y'all have my utmost respect and sympathy. Thoughts and prayers my dudes, thoughts and prayers.
> 
> Hope you liked!
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or your fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	9. "I saved a piece for you." Gladio & Noctis, brotherhood era/pre-game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! This chapter is set... after Brotherhood I guess, but pre-game, basically Noct and Gladio are already buddies. So. Here's some Gladio and Noct, because we haven't had that yet in this collection. Enjoy!

There were few things Noct hated more than fancy events he had to attend. Maybe vegetables. Vegetables and fancy events were probably about the same level of horrible. Right now, he ranked fancy events even above the vegetables, mainly because he was currently headed to one of these events with only Gladio for company.

Cor was driving them to some tiny little kingdom that held its annual festivities and insisted on the King of Lucis attending. Noct didn’t even know whose idea it had been to drag him along, which was fortunate for them because he might have tried to have it count as treason. It should definitely count as treason, it was basically Torture of the Crown Prince after all.

Alright, so maybe he was being a bit dramatic. But he knew from experience that these events were usually horrible. Boring, exhausting, and full of shallow, stuck-up nobility and politicians and whatnot. They all tried to have conversations with him because it was good for their prestige if they were seen talking to him, and he had to act like he didn’t hate every second of it.

Sometimes, when it was his dad hosting an event, he got to drag Prompto along, and Ignis would be there too, which made it at least a bit more bearable. But this time, it was in a foreign country and didn’t call for either a civilian or his advisor to attend, which was why he only got Gladio to share his misery.

Except, Gladio didn’t even look all that miserable about it. If anything, he enjoyed making fun of Noct for having to attend and didn’t seem to mind having to go himself all that much. Then again, he wasn’t required to talk to anyone like Noct was. Gladio’s only job was to stand beside him and look intimidating. That wasn’t half as horrible as having to play nice all evening.

So, yes, this whole thing was deeply unfair. Noct shot a glare at Gladio who was sitting next to him in the backseat, but it went unnoticed as Gladio was too engrossed in his stupid book.

Noct sighed and pulled out his phone, alternating between texting Prompto and playing King’s Knight for the rest of the ride.

* * *

“Don’t even think about it,” Gladio said as Noct longingly eyed the flutes of champagne across the room.

“Why not?” Noct argued, even though he knew exactly why.

Gladio rolled his eyes. “Try again when you’re legal.”

Ugh.

At least Gladio wasn’t drinking either. Gladio never drank on the job, which was… technically always. So basically Gladio never drank, period. Either way, it meant Noct wasn’t the only one who had to endure this whilst sober.

His dad, on the other hand, was happily drinking the champagne that was offered to him. He still looked and acted more regal than Noct could ever hope to be, but there was the tiniest blush on his cheeks that definitely came from the alcohol. Seemed like he didn’t really want to be here, either. Ha. Served him right for dragging his poor son along.

Trying very hard not to look like he hated everyone and everything, Noct made his way over to the buffet. There would be cake, and that would just make this night a bit more bearable.

Gladio followed suit, looming behind him like a shadow.

He was almost at the buffet - and had discovered an amazing looking cake with fruit and stuff and he really, really wanted it - when he saw someone rapidly approach him.

“Shit,” he muttered and tried to escape, but Gladio grabbed the back of his jacket and said, “Oh no, you don’t.”

“Traitor,” he hissed at Gladio, just before the guy came to stand right in front of him, way too close - seriously, what about personal space - and reeking of way too much cologne.

“Prince Noctis!” he exclaimed and immediately launched into an introduction followed by some nonsense Noct was pretty good at tuning out. It was enough to smile, nod politely, and occasionally giving a noise of agreement. He knew that from experience; most of these nobles loved to hear themselves talk and didn’t actually care what he had to say.

The guy - Noct had already forgotten his name or what he did - talked and talked and didn’t appear like he was going to stop soon. Every time he shut up for a moment and Noct thought he was finally free, it turned out the dude was just taking a breath to dive right back into his tale. Or the next tale. Or the tale after the next tale.

Noct was going to die.

He tried to shuffle away a few times, closer to the buffet because he still wanted that cake, but the man just followed and got back into Noct’s personal space right away.

If only Ignis were here, Noct thought wistfully. Ignis would take mercy on him and come up with a smooth way to get him out of this conversation. But Gladio enjoyed seeing him suffer, the sadistic asshole. There was no way he was helping him escape; he was probably enjoying himself way too much right now.

By the time the man finally, _finally_ shut up and left, Noct thought his face was going to fall off from all the fake smiling. He watched as the man walked away, half-expecting him to turn around and come back to ramble at him once more. But as it turned out, the reason why he was leaving was that he’d discovered Noct’s dad nearby. Of course. The only thing worth more than being seen talking to a prince was being seen talking to a king.

Noct caught his father’s eye and gave him a shit-eating grin, to which his dad responded with an eyebrow raised in confusion right before the man reached him. By the time understanding and dread dawned on his face, it was already too late to leave.

Laughing to himself, Noct turned around to finally get himself some of that cake- only to find that the platter was empty.

“What. The fuck,” he said.

“Language, _your Highness_.”

Gladio sounded way too fucking gleeful, and Noct spun around, ready to give him a piece of his mind. That prick from before had really talked at him long enough for everyone else to eat all the cake, the only thing that would’ve made this evening a bit better, and Gladio had the nerve to laugh at him after leaving him at that guy’s mercy for fuck knew how long.

He opened his mouth. And closed it again when a plate was shoved into his hands. A plate with a slice of fruity cake.

The way he stared at it was probably pretty dumb. At least Gladio seemed to think so, judging from the way he was laughing at him again. But this time, Noct couldn’t even be mad at him.

“I saved a piece for you. Saw how you were ogling that cake. I’m not a monster,” Gladio said, and after watching Noct with a grin for a while, “You could say thanks, you know.”

Noct _would_ have said thanks, but, well. His mouth was full of cake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes I wonder why everyone views Ignis as the stuck-up one, when he's actually canonically the one who snuck out with Noct when they were kids and who lets Noct get away with so many things, whilst Gladio insists on him taking responsibility and all... this is NOT anything against Gladio, I love and would die for Gladio, but I just think it's funny ^^
> 
> Anyway! I have this headcanon that Gladio doesn't drink alcohol, because what if Noct gets attacked and Gladio's reflexes are off because he's tipsy? Absolutely cannot happen, therefore Gladio doesn't drink, because he's Noct's Shield at all times, no exceptions.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or your fics or these boys or literally anything!!


	10. "I'm sorry for your loss." Gladio & Prompto, roadtrip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that, that's 1/10th of the story. Enjoy!

“Hey, where are you going?” Prompto asked when Gladio opened the caravan door and took his jacket with him.

It was evening, but not quite bedtime yet. Noct was already curled up in one of the tiny beds with his back turned towards them. He wasn’t asleep yet, Prompto could tell, but he didn’t say anything.

Ignis was tapping away at his phone but looked up when Prompto addressed Gladio.

“Just…” Gladio said, making a vague gesture with his hands. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Don’t stray too far. The daemons get awfully close to inhabited areas these days,” Ignis said, but he didn’t try to stop Gladio so it was probably alright.

Gladio nodded and left, closing the door behind him with just a tad too much noise.

Prompto turned to Ignis. “Is he okay?”

“It is… difficult to be completely okay in times like these,” Ignis replied, not really easing Prompto’s worries.

“I guess…” Prompto sighed. He pulled out his phone to play some King’s Knight, but he couldn’t really focus on it so he soon put it away and stood.

“I’m gonna-” he announced, gesturing much like Gladio before, and slipped out too without waiting for a reaction.

It didn’t take long for him to find Gladio. He was sitting on the bench outside the Crow’s Nest, looking angry and sad and more lost than Prompto had ever seen him, and he absolutely hated it.

“Hey. Care for some company? Only if you want to, I can leave if you’d rather be alone,” he hurried to add. He didn’t want Gladio to feel obliged to let him stay, but something about Gladio being like this just felt so very wrong and he very much wanted to fix it.

“No, it’s fine. You can stay.”

Prompto sat down on the bench, not quite close enough for their shoulders to touch, but close enough to make his presence obvious.

“Whatcha thinking about?”

Gladio’s jaw clenched as he seemed to debate with himself, but then his shoulders slumped and he leaned his head back against the wall.

“My dad.”

Dread, shame, and guilt hit Prompto like a punch in the gut. Of course. If the King had fallen, that meant his Shield had been broken. That thought was already terrible enough on its own but became way worse when he replaced _Shield_ with _Gladio’s dad_. But he hadn’t even thought of it, too preoccupied with Noct’s dad being dead and the general fucked up-ness of the whole situation to consider the other people who died.

“Shit, Gladio. I’m sorry for your loss, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Gladio said softly. He sounded tired. Gladio never sounded tired. “I grew up with the idea. I accepted it.”

Prompto stared at the ground before him, trying not to think about how horrible of a thing that was, especially for a kid. “But that doesn’t really make it easier, does it? I mean, I can’t imagine it does.”

Gladio was silent for a long time, but when he replied, he wasn’t just admitting it to Prompto but to himself as well. “No, not really.”

Prompto, to make up for the lack of something to say to comfort Gladio, leaned into Gladio’s side a bit and hoped he wasn’t overstepping a boundary.

“I’m just glad Iris is safe,” Gladio said, making no attempt to push him away. “And that I’m older than her. That I’m the Shield, not her. I’m not sure I could bear the thought. There… weren’t many Shields who died of old age in the past.”

Prompto nodded. “A King dying before his Shield is shameful, right?”

Even after being friends with Noct for years, Prompto was still trying to get the hang of all the royal business. But one thing he had understood pretty quickly was that honor was a pretty damn big deal.

“It’s the greatest shame,” Gladio confirmed. “If anything short of an illness or age kills a King, the Shield has to be killed first. Being a Shield who failed is a fate worse than death.”

The way Gladio said it, solemn but detached, sent shivers down Prompto’s spine. That sounded like such a big burden to bear, and to have a child carry it from the day they were born was… Prompto couldn’t even imagine how that felt.

“Do you think everyone at the Citadel was killed? I mean. What about Iggy’s uncle? You think he survived?” he asked, trying to change the subject but accidentally directing it in an equally depressing topic. Damn.

Gladio shook his head. “Dunno about everyone, but I think Iggy’s been trying to reach his uncle. No luck yet, so I don’t think he made it.” He paused. “Shit, what about your parents?”

Surprised, Prompto blinked before he processed Gladio’s words. “Oh, don’t worry, they’re fine. They weren’t in Insomnia during the attack. They extended their trip so they were only gonna come home sometime next week anyway.”

Gladio’s eyes narrowed. “Did you talk to them yet?”

“Not… exactly,” Prompto admitted, squirming under Gladio’s observant gaze. “I texted them to tell them I’m okay and tried to call them, but they didn’t pick up. They texted back, it’s fine. Really.”

“It isn’t,” Gladio insisted. “They don’t deserve you.”

With a nervous laugh, Prompto turned away a little so Gladio couldn’t see the redness on his cheeks. “Yeah, well. I’ve got you guys, so I’m good.”

“You sure do,” Gladio said. That terrible look from before was almost gone now and he finally looked like Gladio again. “We should go back inside and get some sleep.”

“Yep,” Prompto agreed and let Gladio pull him up from the bench.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all ever think about how Gladio is a shield destined to fail and how much guilt it'll cause him and he's been raised for this impossible task since he was born and then you have to lie down for a bit? Yeah.
> 
> I'm also on Twitter (@Butterfly_OnIce) and Tumblr (thisfairytalegonebad), and even on Discord too (thisfairytalegonebad#2939) and I'm always happy to chat, about my fics or your fics or these boys or literally anything!!


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